British spies had good information: illegal arms, gunpowder and other military matériel were indeed hidden at James Barrett's farm three miles northwest of the center of Concord, Massachusetts.

In fact Barrett, colonel of the Middlesex Minutemen, had directed the stashing of 10 tons of musket balls and cartridges, 50 reams of cartridge paper, 31 barrels of flour, 17-1/2 tons of rice, and 8-1/2 tons of dried fish throughout the towns of Middlesex county, with significant quantities stored at his own farm.

When the redcoats crossed the North Bridge over the Concord River on April 19, 1775, they were turned back by musket fire from 6000 Minutemen under the command of Colonel Barrett himself in the first American victory of the Revolutionary War ( now celebrated each April on Patriots Day).

Colonel Barrett had received a land grant for his farm from the king of England. In 1910, the Barrett family sold the farm to the McGrath family, and so the farm has changed families only once in more than three centuries.

The original farmhouse, inhabited right through the 20th century, had fallen into woeful disrepair. Acquired by Save Our Heritage, Inc. under an agreement with the National Park Service, the farm is now being carefully restored. (Please help! Send tax-deductible contributions to: Save Our Heritage, 57 Main St, Concord MA 01742. Questions? info@saveourheritage.com)

Neglect of the historic farmhouse had its good side: the house saw very few modifications or modernizations over the centuries. A surprising amount of the structure remained just as it had originally been built.

Here's how it is being restored.

The Barrett Farm, 448 Barrett's Mill Road, Concord MA (map), is not yet open to the public, but you can view it from the outside (especially on Patriots Day, April 19th). From Concord's Monument Square, follow Lowell Road north (to the left of the Colonial Inn) to the blinking light and turn left onto Barrett's Mill Road. The Barrett Farm is a mile along on the right-hand (north) side, just past Strawberry Hill Road.

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